specification / software developers / september2009 / UNCLASSIFIED
format / Audience / Date / Classification
Electronic reporting specification
Temporary resident notification version 1.1
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UNCLASSIFIED / ELECTRONIC REPORTING SPECIFICATION - TEMPORARY RESIDENT NOTIFICATION
CHANGES IN THIS VERSION OF THE SPECIFICATION
General key changes
- General wording changes to allow for consistency and to clarify information.
- All references to Temporary resident have been changed to Former temporary resident.
- All references to unclaimed super money have been changed to unclaimed superannuation money.
- Section 2Reporting Obligations has been updated for further clarification and to incorporate the section 20C notice.
- Definition updated for Former temporary resident
- Section 5 Data File Format corrected to add Section 20C notice data record.
- Section 5 File Content has been updated for further clarification.
- Section 5 Sort order of the report data file has been updated for further clarification.
- Section 8 Example of data file structure updated to incorporate relevant changes.
Changes to data records, values and definitions
- Recipient identifier data record
–The Report specification version number has been updated to FTRNV001.1.
–The Recipient contact name, Recipient contact phone number, Recipient address line 1, Recipient suburb, town or locality, Recipient state or territory and the Recipient postcode fields have been changed from Mandatory to Optional.
- Recipient provider data record
–The Provider contact name, Provider contact phone number, Provider address line 1, Provider suburb, town or locality, Provider state or territory and the Provider postcodefields have been changed from Mandatory to Optional.
- Section 20C notice data record has been created
ACRONYMS
Acronym / ExpandedABN / Australian business number
DIAC / Department of Immigration and Citizenship
ECI / electronic commerce interface
LMS / Lost member statement
MCS / Member contributions statement
RSA / retirement savings accounts
SDHP / Software developers home page
SILU / Software Industry Liaison Unit
TFN / tax file number
DEFINITIONS
Several key terms used in this specification:
Term / DescriptionFormer temporary resident / For the purposes of this document a former temporary resident is a person in relation to whom the superannuation provider has received a notice under section 20C of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999 (a Temporary resident notification).
Member / An individual for whom the superannuation information (lost, unclaimed or otherwise) relates.
Provider / A provider is a superannuation fund, approved deposit fund or an RSA provider. In limited circumstances a life insurance company may also be a provider. It is the responsibility of the provider to ensure that the Unclaimed super money statement is completed and lodged correctly with the Tax Office.
Supplier / This is theperson or organisation (as authorised by the provider) that supplies information to the Tax Office on behalf of a provider. A supplier maybe an administrator, trustee company, tax agent, accountant, or employee of a provider.
The supplier is the organisation who has lodged the Unclaimed superannuation money (USM) statementwith the Tax Office.
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UNCLASSIFIED / ELECTRONIC REPORTING SPECIFICATION - TEMPORARY RESIDENT NOTIFICATION
Table of contents
1 Introduction
About the Temporary resident notification
Who should use this specification
2 Legal references
Reporting Obligations
3 Reporting procedures
Receiving via the internet
Using ECI
Installing ECI software
Backup of data
4 Physical specifications
Internet
Magnetic media
5 Data file format
File structure diagram
File content
Sort order of the report data file
File structure example
6 Record specifications
Description of terms used in data record specifications
Recipient identifier data record
Recipient provider data record
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
File total data record
7 Data field definitions
8 Example of data file structure
Recipient identifier data record
Recipient provider data record
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
File total data record
9 More information
Superannuation contacts
ECI
Software developers home page (SDHP)
UNCLASSIFIED / PAGE1UNCLASSIFIED / ELECTRONIC REPORTING SPECIFICATION - TEMPORARY RESIDENT NOTIFICATION
1 Introduction
About the Temporary resident notification
This specification details the system requirements necessary for theTemporary resident notification to be received electronically. Providers are required to report and pay all unclaimed balances held for former temporary residents who have been requested in this notification to the Commissioner.
Suppliers lodge these statements with the Tax Office either online using the free electronic commerce interface (ECI) software or paper.
The purpose of a Temporary resident notification is to notify providers of members that are former temporary residents who have departed Australia and no longer hold a valid visa and at least six months has passed. If the member has not claimed their superannuation entitlements the balance of their superannuation entitlements must be transferred to the Tax Office.
The existing unclaimed superannuation money arrangements will be used to transfer the account balance of former temporary residents to the Tax Office once the super funds have been notified.
The Tax Office provides a process for claimants or their authorised agents, to determine if they have former temporary resident superannuation money registered and take action to reclaim any entitlement.
Who should use this specification
This specification is to be used in the development of software to receive a Temporary residentnotificationelectronically from the Tax Office.
This specification is not intended to, nor does it, provide a guide to the relevant legislation.
2 Legal references
Reporting Obligations
Under section 20C of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999, the Commissioner is required to give a superannuation provider for a fund a written notice about certain former temporary residents.
Please note that each Section 20C notice data record equates to a single notice being given under section 20C of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999.
Additional information for each of the individuals listed in the Section 20C notice data record can be found in the Member identifier data record. This information is provided purely for the purpose of assisting you with the identification of the individuals listed in the Section 20C notice data record, and contains information you have sent to the Tax Office in either member contribution statements or lost members statements. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the accounts you are required to pay nor does the Member identifier data record itself constitute a notice.
When reporting unclaimed superannuation in response to a Temporary Resident Notification, a superannuation provider must account for a member account reported as if it were a benefit payment made to the member, not a transfer. Ifcontributions were made for themember in that year the superannuation providermust also lodge a Member contributions statement (MCS) for the memberfor thefinancial year in which the payment is made.
3 Reporting procedures
Receiving via the internet
Suppliers are able to receive a Temporary residentnotificationvia the electronic commerce interface (ECI).
The security features of the ECI address the most commonly held concerns over internet based electronic commerce, namely:
- authentication (the sender is who they say they are),
- confidentiality (the communication can only be read by the intended recipient),
- integrity (the transmission cannot be altered without detection while intransit), and
- non-repudiation (the sender cannot later deny the transmission and content).
Using ECI
To use the ECI to receive a Temporary residentnotification from the Tax Officeit is necessary to have:
- an Australian business number (ABN) – apply electronically for an ABN using the Australian Business Register website at
- a digital certificate – apply for registration at
- and the ECI software installed on the supplier’s computer.
A digital certificate is only issued after the Tax Office has conducted rigorous identity checks that will positively identify the individual that is authorised to hold a digital certificate on behalf of a business entity.
Installing the ECI software without an ABN or digital certificate will only allow testing functions to be performed.
Installing ECI software
1Go to to read the installation instructions and to check minimum hardware and software requirements.
2In the left hand menu, select Download & Install and follow the steps.
3Once the application has been successfully installed and opened, select Superannuation from the left hand menu column.
For assistance with installing and using the ECI software:
- phone 1300 139 373
- fax (02) 6211 9111, or
Backup of data
It is the responsibility of the supplier to keep backups of data supplied to the Tax Office, so that data can be re-supplied if necessary. It is the responsibility of the provider to keep effective records as part of their tax reporting obligations.
4 Physical specifications
Internet
The Tax Office will send out the Temporary residentnotification via ECI providing internet was nominated as the return media.
When the Tax Office generates the file for transmission, the following file naming convention applies:
Naaaaaaa.TRN
where:
- aaaaaaa is the transmission number
- TRN is a unique suffix to identify that the file is for Temporary resident notification data.
Magnetic media
The Tax Office will not issue the electronic Temporary resident notificationon any type of magnetic media.
5 Data fileformat
File structure diagram
File content
Each file (dataset) will contain one Recipient identifier data record(page 11) as the first record on the file.
This record identifies the entity wherethe Temporary residentnotificationis being sent. The recipient could be a provider or supplier.
The first Recipient provider data record (page 12) will appear as the second record on the file.This record identifies the provider that subsequentSection 20C notice data records and Member identifierdata records relate to.
The Section 20C notice data record (page 12) identifies the former temporary resident and each record equates to a single notice being given under section 20C of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999 that subsequent Member identifier data records relate to.
The Member identifierdata record(page 13) is provided purely for the purpose of assisting you with the identification of the individual listed in the previousSection 20C notice data record.
Each Temporary resident notificationthe Tax Office sends will contain a File total datarecord (page 13) as the last record in the file. This record identifies the total number of records in the file (including the File total data record).
Sort order of the report data file
The sort order of the report data file will be as follows:
- the Recipient identifier datarecord,
- then the Recipient provider data recordfor the first provider being reported,
- then the Section 20C notice data record for the first member for that provider;
- then anyMember identifierdata recordrelevant to the member identified in the Section 20C notice data record, and
- then the File total data recordwill be placed at the end of the file.
If there is another member to report for that provider then the next Section 20C notice data recordwill be placed after the Member identifier data recordfor the previous member.
If there is another report from a different provider to be included within the same file, then a Recipient provider data record and any Section 20C notice data records and Member identifier data recordsfor the next provider will follow the last Member identifier data record for the previous provider.
File structureexample
The Temporary residentnotificationis being sent to a supplier from the Tax Office with three different providers.
Provider A has two different former temporary resident memberswith only one Member identifier data record.
Provider B has oneformer temporary resident member with two Member identifier data records.
Provider C has three different former temporary resident members all with only one Member identifier data record.
Recipient identifier data recordRecipient provider data record (Provider A)
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
Recipient provider data record (Provider B)
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
Member identifier data record
Recipient provider data record (Provider C)
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
Section 20C notice data record
Member identifier data record
File total data record
6 Record specifications
Description of terms used in data record specifications
The tables listed below provide details of each data record and its elements. The tables contain the following standard columns:
Character position – the start and end position of the field in the record.
Field length – the length of the data item in bytes.
Field format – the format type of the field:
Ais alphabetic (A-Z) – this field will be in upper case – one byte per character. This field will be left justified andcharacters not used will be blank filled.
For example, SMITH in a ten character field would be reported as SMITHbbbbb (the character b is used to indicate blanks).
ANis alphanumeric – this field will be in upper case – one byte per character. This field will be left justified andcharacters not used will be blank filled.
For example, 10 FIRST STREET in a 20 character alphanumeric field would be reported as 10bFIRSTbSTREETbbbbb (the character b is used to indicate blanks).
DTis a date in DDMMCCYY format. If the day or month components are less than 10, a leading zero will be inserted.
For example:
- 26 March 2009 would be reported as 26032009
- 9 November 2009 would be reported as 09112009
If the date is mandatory it will be a valid date, otherwise see date under the optional field type on the next page.
Nis numeric (0-9) – one byte per digit. Numeric fields will be right justified and zero filled.
For example, 123456789 in an 11 digit field would be reported as 00123456789.
All of the amount fields are reported in cents and will not contain decimal points, commas or other non-numeric characters (for example $+-).
For example, in an 8 character numeric (amount) field:
- $1234.99 would be reported as 00123499
- $122.16 would be reported as 00012216
- $567.00 would be reported as 00056700, and
- $0.00 would be reported as 00000000.
Field type – codes used are:
Mmandatory field that must be provided. For single character mandatory fields, a blank (space) is not a valid value.
ALPHA: field will not start with a blank or be blank filled.
ALPHA NUMERIC: field will not start with a blank or be blank filled.
NUMERIC: field will not start with a blank and could be zero filled.
DATE: field will not be zero filled.
Ooptional field that must be made available by the software developer for the Tax Office to fill.
ALPHA: if not present, field will be blank filled.
ALPHA NUMERIC: if not present, field will be blank filled.
NUMERIC: if not present, field will be zero filled.
DATE: if not present, field will be zero filled.
SFor use by the Tax Office. It will be blankor zero filled.
Field name – a brief description of the field.
Reference number – the definition reference number. These definitions can be found in section 7 Data field definitions(page 14).
Recipient identifier data record
Character position / Field length / Field format / Field type / Field name / Reference number1-3 / 3 / N / M / Record length / 7.1
4-16 / 13 / A / M / Record identifier / 7.3
17-26 / 10 / AN / M / Tax Office file reference number / 7.4
27-34 / 8 / DT / M / File creation date / 7.5
35-44 / 10 / AN / M / Report specification version number / 7.6
45-120 / 76 / AN / M / Recipient name / 7.7
121-158 / 38 / AN / O / Recipient contact name / 7.8
159-173 / 15 / AN / O / Recipient contact phone number / 7.9
174-188 / 15 / AN / O / Recipient contact fax number / 7.10
189-226 / 38 / AN / O / Recipient address line 1 / 7.11
227-264 / 38 / AN / O / Recipient address line 2 / 7.11
265-291 / 27 / AN / O / Recipient suburb, town or locality / 7.12
292-294 / 3 / A / O / Recipient state or territory / 7.13
295-298 / 4 / N / O / Recipient postcode / 7.14
299-318 / 20 / AN / O / Recipient country / 7.15
319-394 / 76 / AN / M / Tax Office product / 7.16
395-409 / 15 / AN / M / Tax Office contact phone number / 7.17
410-500 / 91 / A / S / Filler / 7.2
Recipient provider data record
Character position / Field length / Field format / Field type / Field name / Reference number1-3 / 3 / N / M / Record length / 7.1
4-11 / 8 / A / M / Record identifier / 7.18
12-87 / 76 / AN / M / Provider name / 7.19
88-98 / 11 / N / M / Provider tax file number (TFN) / 7.20
99-109 / 11 / N / O / Provider Australian business number (ABN) / 7.21
110-147 / 38 / AN / O / Provider contact name / 7.22
148-162 / 15 / AN / O / Provider contact phone number / 7.23
163-177 / 15 / AN / O / Provider contact fax number / 7.24
178-215 / 38 / AN / O / Provider address line 1 / 7.25
216-253 / 38 / AN / O / Provider address line 2 / 7.25
254-280 / 27 / AN / O / Provider suburb, town or locality / 7.26
281-283 / 3 / A / O / Provider state or territory / 7.27
284-287 / 4 / N / O / Provider postcode / 7.28
288-307 / 20 / AN / O / Provider country / 7.29
308-322 / 15 / N / M / Temporary resident notification number / 7.30
323-330 / 8 / DT / M / Issue date / 7.31
331-500 / 170 / A / S / Filler / 7.2
Section 20C notice data record
Character position / Field length / Field format / Field type / Field name / Reference number1-3 / 3 / N / M / Record length / 7.1
4-7 / 4 / A / M / Record identifier / 7.32
8-18 / 11 / N / O / Tax file number (TFN) / 7.33
19-48 / 30 / AN / M / Surname or family name / 7.34
49-63 / 15 / AN / O / First given name / 7.35
64-93 / 30 / AN / O / Second given name / 7.36
94-500 / 407 / A / S / Filler / 7.2
Member identifier data record
Character position / Field length / Field format / Field type / Field name / Reference number1-3 / 3 / N / M / Record length / 7.1
4-7 / 4 / A / M / Record identifier / 7.37
8-13 / 6 / AN / O / System code / 7.38
14-29 / 16 / AN / M / Account number / 7.39
30-45 / 16 / AN / O / Provider client identifier / 7.40
46-56 / 11 / N / O / Tax file number (TFN) / 7.33
57-86 / 30 / AN / M / Surname or family name / 7.34
87-101 / 15 / AN / O / First given name / 7.35
102-131 / 30 / AN / O / Second given name / 7.36
132-132 / 1 / A / M / Sex / 7.41
133-140 / 8 / DT / O / Date of birth / 7.42
141-143 / 3 / A / M / Source of membership / 7.43
144-147 / 4 / N / M / Year of source / 7.44
148-500 / 353 / A / S / Filler / 7.2
File total data record
Character position / Field length / Field format / Field type / Field name / Reference number1-3 / 3 / N / M / Record length / 7.1
4-13 / 10 / A / M / Record identifier / 7.45
14-23 / 10 / N / M / Number of records in file / 7.46
24-500 / 477 / A / S / Filler / 7.2
7 Data field definitions
7.1Record length – will be set to 500.
7.2Filler – for use by the Tax Office.